Eren POV
Levi is holding me in between his legs, one arm securely around my waist while the other crosses over to my shoulder. I can feel Levi's breathing down my neck. He won't let me go, but this is different than the past few times. He's different from the past few times.
"Levi?"
He doesn't speak, he just squeezes me tighter, but without hurting me. He's afraid. He's shaking. He's scared that I'm going to leave him. I feel something soak into my shirt. He's crying. I relax my body and let Levi hold me. I know this feeling. I delicately wrap my arms around him and bring my lips up to the side of his head, right above his ear.
"I'm sorry, Levi, I didn't mean to make you feel like I abandoned you."
He then buries his head into my shoulder. He holds me closer, and I can hear his silent sobs into my shirt. The only way I know how to console him is to give him what I wanted. I rub his back and whisper things like "it's ok" and "I'm not going anywhere" in his ear. I don't know if any of it worked, but eventually he stops shaking.
"Eren?"
His voice isn't shaky like I thought it would be. It is rough, from crying, but there's a certain...tone that I can't pick up on. It almost sends a chill down my spine. Almost. If it wasn't Levi it definitely would have, but fortunately this is Levi.
"Yeah, I'm here."
He huffs out contently before continuing, "Who do you belong to?"
My eyebrows furrow in confusion. Technically, because of my father's instability, no one. I am about to respond with that answer, but then a thought comes to me. Levi. You belong to Levi. I don't know why, but I feel like that's the right response. I stop chewing on my cheek, which I didn't know I was doing, and respond.
"You?"
He takes his hand off of my shoulder and grabs my hand, which was previously bracing his back. He folds our fingers together.
"And what's my name?"
"Levi?"
He then exhales and pulls back, still holding my hand. His hair is a rat's nest, and his eyes are red and puffy. They're a cloudy grey, lately I notice his eyes turn different shades depending on his emotions, and they're still watery due to his sobs. His face is pale, and his cheeks are flushed. His hand is clammy, and I feel really bad. I don't regret going to Armin, but I should have told him where I was going, and I definitely shouldn't have spent hours there, especially not after learning what I did.
"I'm-"
"Are you ok? Are you hurt? Did someone touch you?"
"No, Levi, I'm fine. What about you?"
He scoffs, "Don't worry about me, I just want you to be ok. If something happened to you...I...what...do."
He mumbled the last part, so I couldn't hear him. I squeeze his hand, just in reassurance, to let him know it's ok.
"I'm sorry, I should have-"
"Don't apologize, Kitten, I'm letting this one go, I suggest you do to."
I guess he really just does want to forget this ever happened and move on. That's probably for the best. I won't make this mistake again.
Levi POV
There's no way in hell I'm letting this one go. I'm letting Eren go on this one because he didn't know that what he did was wrong and shouldn't be punished for the things he doesn't know. My mother and everyone else involved, however, need to learn otherwise. I'm not as lenient when it comes to what's mine.
I get Eren to fall asleep before I walk to my mother's room. I unlock the door and see my mother angrily sitting on the bed.
"You really are life you fa-"
I place my hand over her mouth, "Ssh, you'll wake him up!"
She furrows her eyebrows, "He just went to see his friend, it's no big deal."
"He left me."
"He came back of his own free will too!"
I almost slap her in the face. I can hear Eren shifting in his sleep in the other room. I have to make this quick.
"Who was it?"
"Who was who?"
"Don't be difficult. Who did he go to see?"
I growl lowly and she flinches, "I don't know! I saw the note addressed to Eren and handed it to him."
Of course she did.
"I trust you'll keep silent to Eren about this?"
"Your father did the same thing to his parents."
"I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!"
"Yes! Alright! I won't say a word."
I nod, "good", before walking back to Eren. I see him tossing and turning and I immediately get under the covers next to him. He clings and snuggles into me. I hum in content. This is how it should be. He should always be safe in my arms without a care in the world.
And I'm going to make sure it stays that way.
- - - - -
I AM SO SORRY THIS UPDATE IS LATE. I don't want to give excuses you guys wont care about, but I have been spontaneously passing out over the past few days, either from lack of sleep or my migraines, but it's been affecting my schoolwork, so that has been a hassle to fix up. Anyways, I'm sorry it's such a short chapter for such a long wait, but I epoh it's sufficient. Anyways, I'll get more into what happened to Levi next chapter.
As always, take care of yourselves or else.